Beyond Judgment and Perspective

Kayaking is a sport that is naturally associated with risk. In fact, for many, accessing and taking risk is a part of the sport’s appeal. To me, the opportunities and challenges associated with kayaking are far more about judgment and perspective than they are about risk. This is as true when I’m driving a car or walking in a city as it is about paddling on rivers 200 days each year.

One of the truly great people with whom I shared the river is a major contributor to my own judgment and perspective on the river and the larger society around us. John Mullen, who tragically lost his life on the river in 2005, is the subject of a touching article written by his brother, Kurt, in the latest issue of Paddler Magazine:

http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2008-2/article_319.shtml

My family and I came to know John, a writer and editor for the Washington Post, when he traveled to the Ocoee River in 2002 to cover my training for the Olympic Games in Athens. John was an aspiring and enthusiastic whitewater kayaker himself at the time but while in Ducktown, he wanted to “live and learn” my daily pursuits as an Olympic hopeful. While living in our home with us for four days, he paddled, ran, lifted weights, and mountain biked with me never missing a workout or an opportunity to engage further into the subject at hand. He just naturally “fit in” with the people with whom he wrote about and valued them, often better than they valued themselves. The great “students of life” seem to have a unique way of doing this.

John was much more than a great writer although his “Outside Line” columns every Sunday were among the best written pieces in a top-flight newspaper. His passion for living and willingness to keep asking himself, “can I do better?” became the fuel that brought him to the 2004 Whitewater Olympic Trials in South Bend, Indiana – not as a journalist covering the race but as a competitor racing in the event.

It’s been said that great writers often possess great conflict. In my opinion, here was John’s - in a world where so many are living a pursuit of “understanding” themselves and the world around them, John understood others and their world around them in a deep, personal, connective, and profound manner much better than he understood himself.

The ironic part of this is that while his path of self exploration may not have resolved all of his own questions, his process of getting there brought purposeful clarity to many others in his circle. And coming up on three years since losing John, not only is the spirit of John’s pursuits alive and well, I believe his circle of influence upon others is growing and stronger than ever.

Thank you, Kurt, for the great article and reminding us of the good for which John stood – John would be proud.